If you want to learn about Hakka heritage in Singapore, there’s no better place to do it than at the Char Yong (Dabu) Association. Founded in 1858, it’s one of the oldest clan associations in Singapore, and its great little museum offers visitors a solid introduction to Hakka culture.

Clan Associations in Singapore

When Chinese immigrants first started coming to Singapore in large numbers in the mid-nineteenth century, they found themselves missing home and often in need of social services. To serve the needs of their communities, immigrants banded together and began forming clan associations.

Immigrants joined the clan association of the people from their original home regions — if you were a Hakka immigrant from Jia Ying prefecture, for example, you joined the Ying Fo Fui Kun clan association; if you were from the Taishan district in Guangdong Province, you joined the Cho Kah Koon clan association, and so on. The Char Yong (Dabu) Association was founded to serve newcomers from Dabu County in southern China.

Hakka Heritage in Singapore

Relative latecomers to the Singapore immigrant scene, the Hakka people grew to become the fourth-largest Chinese immigrant group in the country in the nineteenth century.

The Char Yong (Dabu) Association continues to this day, serving the Hakka people of Singapore by donating to charitable causes, working alongside nonprofit organizations, and participating in traditional Chinese festivals.

Visiting the Galleries

I first visited the Char Yong (Dabu) Association’s gallery spaces in Geylang in 2023. Since then, they’ve moved to a new purpose-built center several blocks away, which includes a much-improved heritage hall. I returned in July 2026 to see the changes.

The Char Yong Heritage Hall now has pride of place on the first floor, focused on the history and many accomplishments of the Char Yong (Dabu) Association.

From Dabu to Singapore

The visit opens with an introduction to the Dabu region, including an interactive map of emigration hotspots.

You then come into a room that introduces you to the jobs traditionally held by Hakka immigrants to Singapore: pawnshop owners, tailors, metalworkers, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners, and opticians.

You’ll find a large chest for traditional Chinese herbs and medicinal remedies at the back.

This front gallery includes a timeline of the Char Yong (Dabu) Association’s founding and accomplishments. Some of the association’s oldest artifacts on display come from Hock Teck See Temple, said to be the first Hakka temple in Singapore. This is a yunban, or “cloud plate,” from 1844, which monks would have used as a chime to call people to meals or prayers.

Life in a Hakka Village

The Heritage Hall offers more than a look at Hakka life in Singapore — it also gives you a peek into traditional life in the Dabu countryside. I got to try my hand at spinning a “wind winnower,” a traditional machine used to separate rice husks from the grains. The sign says that, “as a traditional agricultural implement with strong Hakka characteristics, it was once found in almost every household.”

I especially liked the model Hakka homes, both the more common square complexes and the more unusual Hua’e Lou (Hua’e Round House).

Another display introduces visitors to Cheong Fatt Tze, the richest man in Malaya at the end of the nineteenth century (he was called the “Rockefeller of the East”). While he’s best known today for the Blue Mansion in Penang, Malaysia, here you can see a model of his Hakka-style home in Dabu County, China.

You’ll also find artifacts from the region, including Hakka lion dance masks …

… teapots (Dabu is a tea-growing region) …

… tiny clay figurines dressed in traditional Hakka clothing …

… and objects that immigrants to Singapore would have made or used.

The gallery also houses a wooden Dabu horse, improbably painted in celebratory gold.

Hakka Service in Singapore

As a new immigrant in the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, you might have turned to your clan association for social connections and networking. But you might also have approached them for support — medical, economic, educational. To this end, the Char Yong (Dabu) Association founded a clinic in 1890 and what the museum calls a “study institution” in 1906. You can still see classroom supplies, graduation certificates, and schoolbooks from the Khee Fatt School.

Students at the school still make New Year’s animals from ang bao envelopes for the association every year.

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s Hakka Son

A good deal of gallery real estate has been given over to Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore and a proud Hakka son. You’ll find the microphone that he used to speak to the Char Yong (Dabu) Association in the 1960s, signed copies of his books, and even a commemorative plate with a painting of his ancestral home in Dabu.

In a larger, less-polished gallery across the hall, you’ll find an entire Lee Kuan Yew timeline.

Patrons, Pictures, and the Past

The Char Yong Association Heritage Hall sign hangs above only one set of doors, so it would be easy to miss that second gallery across the hall. But make sure to pop into this space for a look at some of the thousands of photos scanned by the museum’s curator — photos of Lee Kuan Yew, the association’s good works, and the school.

You’ll also find more school artifacts in this room. But the most interesting slices of history are the stones on which you’ll find inscribed the names of the association’s historical patrons, plus the amount each one donated. Here is the very first donor roll, which dates to 1858.

Building Spaces: Hakka Heritage in Singapore

As you’re leaving, make sure to step out for a look at the front of the building, where you’ll see a few more references to Hakka culture. The ceremonial front doors have been designed to resemble the entrance of a tulou, a traditional fortified communal building found in parts of southern China.

Look up, and you’ll see a giant pomelo sculpture, a Chinese symbol of prosperity and good fortune.

Before You Go: Visiting the Char Yong (Dabu) Association

• Hours: The Char Yong Heritage Hall is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. No appointment required
• Address: 1 Lor 18 Geylang, Singapore 398787
• Cost: Admission is free
• How Long to Spend: You won’t need long; a very thorough tour of the galleries took me roughly 25 minutes
• Worth Knowing: There are plans to change the exhibits every six months. Almost all of the signage is in both Chinese and English

Further Reading

It’s easy to include these galleries in a larger Geylang tour. For more ideas on things to see in that neighborhood, check out my post on Geylang Serai.

If you enjoy small museums like this one, you might also like my guide to Singapore’s heritage centres, which explores cultural museums across the island.

I appreciated that the galleries at the Char Yong Heritage Hall were small and intimate — I learned a good deal in a short amount of time. My tour guide was clearly passionate about both the collection and the work that the association does to support Singapore’s Hakka community. Many thanks to David Chong and Lee Hong Ping for organizing and hosting a fascinating visit.